Trial courts are in the best position to assess the competency of criminal defendants and the knowingness and intelligence of waivers of the right to counsel, and that determination will only be reversed if it was clearly erroneous.
Criminal
Bell v. State, No. 49S02-1609-CR-00501, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Sept. 29, 2016).
A trial court must consider a defendant’s ability to pay before entering a restitution order after hearing testimony of inability to pay without rebutting evidence.
Griffith v. State, No. 27S00-1503-LW-145, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Sept. 29, 2016).
Supreme Court upholds murder, robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery conviction and sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole (LWOP).
Herron v. State, No. 71A04-1602-CR-306, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 30, 2016).
Where the state charged the defendant with obstruction of justice citing the wrong provision of that statute, defendant’s motion for directed verdict should have been granted.
Coleman v. State, 49A02-1511-CR-1999, __N.E.3d__ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 21, 2016).
Trial court must hold an indigency hearing before imposing a public defender fee, probation fee, or drug and alcohol treatment fee.